This is one of the outings that many American people still allow themselves in this new period of confinement. But is there a risk of contamination if you go solo jogging?

In Europe, for example, Jogging, within a radius of one kilometer around home, alone, and for one-hour maximum, is authorized, despite the new containment measures taken a week ago. This authorization is debated among doctors, but it has so far been maintained.

But in concrete terms, is there a risk of catching the coronavirus by going for a solo jog?

## No, unless …

If you are going to run on your own, you actually don’t risk much. The probabilities are really minimal, explains Pierre Tattevin, infectious disease specialist at Rennes University Hospital, president of the French-speaking Society of Infectious Pathology (SPILF). We know that this virus is transmitted by droplets, heavy particles that will not go beyond one meter.

These, expelled through the nose or mouth when a person coughs or sneezes, will not go beyond this distance. Therefore, if we stay more than a meter from everyone while [jogging] alone, we risk nothing and the risk is zero. And again, continues Dr. Tattevin, if you meet a person less than one meter, by misfortune or by surprise, it would be necessary for a combination of circumstances that it coughs when you pass right next to it, and that it is contagious, then that the particles are carried in sufficient quantity to come to infect you… The risks are thus very very low.

## Be careful what you touch!

The virus indeed survives on inert surfaces. Indeed, if you touch exercise bars, for example, when stopping during your jogging, or a doorknob, an elevator button when leaving your home to go jogging, this contact represents a risk, warns Dr. Tattevin.

However, he reassures: The deadline is short. This is only if you are unlucky enough to pass right after someone infected, within thirty minutes, for most surfaces.

However, other materials could keep the virus much longer … Several studies indicate that the coronavirus survives on surfaces for a period ranging from a few hours to several days. A duration that varies according to different conditions such as the type of surface, temperature, humidity of the environment, says the World Health Organization (WHO). Remember in any case to wash your hands well when returning from a jog, so …

## And by running, I risk spreading the virus?

When you’re sick with a fever, you rarely feel like going for a run. Remember that any sporting activity in case of fever is prohibited. But the problem may be elsewhere: many people are carriers without knowing it and therefore necessarily risk spreading the coronavirus when they go out, in any case. Not necessarily by coughing if they have no symptoms, but by touching all kinds of objects or surfaces.

In this case, all barrier gestures, even if you have no symptoms, are more essential than ever when leaving home.

Nevertheless, doctors warn against physical activity during a period of confinement. Dr Robert Sebbag, attached to the infectious and tropical diseases department at La Pitié Salpêtrière Hospital, said on RMC: When we jog, we are hyperventilated. We spit a lot more, we spit, we certainly have it on our hands… The risk is major!

The best, for the good of all, is therefore certainly to go there quietly, so as not to have to spit or spit everywhere.